Mail-carrier.



PATENTED MAR. 15, 1904.

I. I. ONEILL. MAIL CARRIER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 20. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATE s 1 Patented March 15,1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN P. ONEILL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MAIL-CARRIER.

x SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 754,795, dated. March 15, 1904.

Application filed May 20, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN P. ONEILL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Mail-Carriers, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

In post-offices in large cities like New York, Boston, 620. the mail as it comes into the postofiice is first stamped and is then taken to an assorting-table, where it is roughly sorted according to the larger geographical divisions of the country. The portions of mail thus sorted are carried to a second assorting-table, where a finer assortment is made, and, if necessary, this operation is repeated until the mail has been sorted as much as required.

It is customary for the employees to carry the mail from one assorting-table tov the next in their arms, this usually being done by stacking up the mail on one arm and steadying the stack with the other hand. While this method answers the purpose when only a small amount of mail is to be transported, yet during the rush hours when the mail is arriving in large quantities at the oflice and must be quickly sorted it is oftentimes very difficult for the corps of employees who carry the mail from one table to another to keep up with the incoming mail. Moreover, it is very diflicult for an employee to move with any degree of speed when he has mail-matter stacked up on his arm as high or higher than his chin without running the risk of dropping most or all of the mail before he reacheshis destination.

It is the object of my invention to provide a novel carrier which can be supported by the body of the employee and which has a capacity for carrying a much greater quantity of mail than could be carried in ones arms. The carrier has a bottom, a back,- and two sides and means for supporting it from the shoulder of the employee. Vvhen the carrier is on the Serial No. 157,997. (No model.)

carry two or three times the 'amountof mail, which can be carried on the arm in the old.

way, and at the same time the employeehas both hands free.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view showing.

my improved carrier as it is used. Fig. 2 is a front view of the lower portion of the car-;

rier.. Figs. 3 and 4 are details hereinafter.

referred to, Fig. 4 being a section on the line w 00, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows a modified form of carrier.

The carrier has a bottom 3, two sidesiand 5, and a back 6. The front of the carrier is open for the reception of the mail. 1

In the form of the inventionjshown in Fig.

1 the back is a skeleton back, though my in' vention would not be departed from if the back were solid. 7 .At the upper end of the back and rigidly secured thereto is an upper rim 8, to which the sides 4 and 5 are detachably secured. It will be understood that the upper rim '8, the back 6, and the bottom 3 form one integral structure. The sides 4 and 5 are shown as being removable, and for this purpose the tongues 9 at their lower ends set into eyes or staples 10 in the bottom and the tongues 11 at the upper end set into similar eyes or staples '12 in the upper rim. The tongues 11 are made long enough so that by raising the sides the tongues 9 may be disengaged from the staple at times and the sides removed. \Vhen the sides are in operative position, a suitable button 13, pivoted to the side, engages the lower edge of the rim 8, and

thus locks the side in place. By giving either button a quarter-turn the corresponding side may be readily removed, as will be understood.

, Between the side I and the back 6 is a space 14, which extends the full length of the carrier and is large enough to permit the user of the device inserting his hand therethrough. The sides 4: and 5 are preferably made sufliciently flexible so that the side which is adjacent the body of the user will conform to the shape of the body when the carrier is filled with mail.

The carrier may be supported from the shoulder of the user in any suitable way. As illustrated in Fig. 1, I have provided a supporting-strap 16, which is secured to the outer edge of the bottom 3, passed around the side 5 and back 6 at a point part way up the same, thence around the left shoulder of the user, and back to the inner side of the bottom, to which it is detachably secured in any suitable way, as by a snap-hook 17. When the carrier is supported in this position, the open front thereof opens toward the users right hand, and this is the way in which the carrier will be worn by employees who are right-handed. This permits the employee to stack the letters and other mail in the carrier on the bottom and between the sides 4 and 5 with his right hand and also permits him to use his left hand through the hand-space 14 to assist in arranging the letters or other mail-matter.

For persons who are left-handed the carrier may be supported so that the open front opens toward the left hand, in which case the right hand of the person may be inserted through a space corresponding to 14, which exists between the back 6 and the side 5.

r In using the device after the carrier has been filled, as above described, with mail the employee transports it to the assorting-table, where the mail is to be again assorted, and in doing this he has both hands free. When the mail has arrived at its destination, it may be either removed from the carrier while the carrier is suspended from the body of the user or the carrier may be bodily removed and laid down on one side. Thereafter the upper side may be displaced and the stack of letters removed from the carrier.

It will be noted that the carrier is so supported from the body that it stands at a slight inclination with the open front inclining backwardly. This is important, because the letters when put in the carrier stand at a slight inclination to the back and are thus prevented from falling out.

The carrier may be made of a size to accommodate a single stack of letters, in which case the bottom would be substantially of the same size as the letters, or it may be of a size to accommodate two stacks of letters. I have provided the flexible partition 20, which will be used to separate the stacks when two or more stacks are carried. I have purposely shown the partition 20 as normally somewhat loose, so as to permit it to accommodate different sizes of letters. For instance. in Fig. 2 I have shown laid on the bottom a single stack a of large letters of a size to substantially cover the bottom 3 and above this two stacks b of small or ordinary-sized letters. By making the partition 20 a flexible one and having some slack it can be made to accommodate these different-sized letters, as shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a slightly different modification, wherein the carrier is provided with the supporting-hook 20, which extends over the shoulder of the employee. The carrier shown in said figure is of a size to accommodate a single stack of letters only. I will preferably make the sides flexible enough so that in case a large or wide letter is inserted said sides will yield sufliciently to admit such letter. Canvas or other suitable fabric makes a good material for the sides.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the construction of the carrier without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A carrier for mail-matter having a bottom, a back and two sides, the front and top of said carrier being open, and the back and one of the sides being spaced from each other to provide an opening extending the length of the carrier through which the user may insert one hand toassist in placing the mail in the carrier.

2. A carrier for mail-matter having a bottom, a back and two sides, the front and top of said carrier being open, and means to suspend said carrier from the users body with one of its sides resting against said body.

3. A carrier for mail-matter having a bottom, a back, two sides, an open front, and means to attach said carrier to the body of the user, one of the sides being flexible, whereby it adapts itself to the shape of the body.

A. A carrier for mail-matter having a bottom, a back, two sides and an open front, and means to attach said carrier to the body of the user, the back and one side being separated from each other to provide a hand-space through which the user may insert one hand to assist in placing the mail in the carrier.

5. A carrier for mail-matter having-a bottom, a back, two sides and an open front, one of said sides being removable, and means to attach the carrier to the body of the user.

6. A carrier for mail-matter having a bottom, a back, two sides and an open front, one of said sides being removable, and one side being spaced from the back to provide an l opening extending from the top to the bottom of the carrier, and through which the user may insert one hand to assist in placing the mail in the carrier.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub- 10 scribing witnesses. V I v FRANKLIN P. ONEILL.

Witnesses:

JOHN G. EDWARDS, ELIZABETH N. MORRISON. 

